By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— For a scavenger hunt with a twist, the equestrian community is invited to the Great Pumpkin Treasure Hunt Oct. 17 at Oak Mountain State Park. It’s one of many trail rides hosted by the Back Country Horsemen of Central Alabama.

In additional to raising money for OMSP’s equestrian programs, the event will include a 15-minute demonstration by Jamie Ruff, who will teach participants how to use a compass and a map to find hidden Halloween-themed clues.

“Its just fun for us to do for people who don’t know how to use a compass, and all the money we get and we raise, we just put it back into the park,” said Trena Stover Fry, chairman of the Back Country Horsemen.

The Back Country Horsemen is a national organization with five chapters in Alabama. Each chapter works with a state park, keeping the park open for equestrian programs. The Central Alabama chapter maintains more than 25 miles of trails at OMSP.

The nonprofit organization is also working on putting a roof over the campground in the park, and has applied for a grant to put toward that project.

The trail rides started about five years ago, according to Fry, and they have gotten bigger and bigger as the years have progressed. The last trail ride they hosted was last spring, and Fry said they had about 30 riders and raised about $1,500.

“It was just a lot of fun,” she said. “We just had a ride and a raffle and we did a little game with cards. Whoever had the best hand won and we had prizes.”

She said everyone enjoys the rides because beyond just riding trials, the event gives riders a task to accomplish. With clues hanging from trees, kids also enjoy the scavenger hunt fun on the ride.

“We have tried to make the rides fun where the riders are getting something,” Fry said. “We try to get the younger people involved so they can pick up where we left off and help keep our parks open.”

The Great Pumpkin Treasure Hunt begins at 9 a.m. at the equestrian campground. There will be potluck food and all kinds of prizes.  No GPS devices will be allowed and all horses must have a negative coggins.

Participation is $20 per person and all proceeds will benefit Oak Mountain State Park. For more information, visit Backcountryhorsemenal.com/events.